Have You Found Your Edge?

As an executive coach, I get to talk to high achievers. They are not clones of one another; they are all different – different backgrounds, different skill sets – but they do have one thing in common.

They live on the proverbial edge.

Now, what does that mean?

When we say that someone or some organization has an edge, it means they have an advantage. It means they have a talent or skill that others don’t have.

But doesn’t it also mean they are living at the edge of their capabilities, the edge of their potential?

As I have talked about many times, you don’t know when you have reached your edge until you have crossed over into that which you cannot do.

And how does the world tell you that?

You fail.

You reach an obstacle that you cannot overcome.

Contrary to what you might think, these are positive elements in our lives. It is a great misconception that the biggest successes are the people who haven’t failed. In fact, it is exactly the opposite: the biggest successes in the world are people who have failed the most.

This is because they have absolutely found the edge of their capability.

I’m telling you the highest performers live on that edge.

They begin each day with great intentionality about what defines a successful day.

They ask themselves daily, “What are my highest priorities?”

They know that the day will be a success when they achieve these things.

It is not just productivity in the work sense; of course, that is a big part of it. But it goes beyond work. It is about who you are, and what you do for your family and friends. It is about being there for someone who needs you. It is about what you do in your faith practice, your physical fitness, and your intellectual development…all of these other areas.

To the casual observer, this is not normally considered “living on the edge”. We think of living on the edge as being irresponsible.

Now, while that may be true in the race car world, in our world, we are not talking about behaving irresponsibly. We are talking about simply beginning the day with great intention about what your highest priorities are and then executing according to that plan.

If you want a more complicated example, you are going to have to find someone else because I love and am a big fan of “simple”.

The people who live this way are people who aren’t letting life pass them by. They are taking each day, and squeezing every ounce out of it.

When you do that more often than other people, you have found your edge. And in finding your edge, you are going to find great success and significance in this world.